Habs aim to end skid; game on RIS

• Confirming: tonight’s game will be telecast in French on the RIS network. Check your cable/satellite grid for availability

C’mon, we’re KIDDING about the “skid” headline… it’s preseason, let’s all have some fun!

The Ottawa Senators are at the Bell Centre tonight to face the Canadiens in the Habs’ second game of the preseason. The visitors show a 5-0 win and 4-1 loss in consecutive-night games against Toronto, while the Canadiens dropped a 4-2 decision to Boston to open their exhibition season.

Boone will blog the action live, Stubbs will be on Twitter through the game beginning late afternoon, before committing a column, and Hickey will type the game story and Habs dressing-room for The Gazette, his words to be linked here.

If you don’t get RIS TV, pretend it’s the early 1950s and hear CJAD radio’s Rick Moffat and Sergio Momesso call the action here beginning at 7:30.

That’s a pretty lame Ottawa lineup. The Gomez line will light it up if they are at all interested in skating against these minor leaguers. People will be going lady ga ga over Eller by 8:00 pm. Good move by martin. Hopefully, Pouliot et. al. will accept the challenge and step it up.

Maybe we should create a website together and mix our ideas, this way we don’t forget anything.

Damn, I just realized I didn’t even mention Stevie Y in my post!!!! Well anyways, I’m hearing that he’s submitting a proposal to the league today, in order to have last night’s loss to the Oilers switched into a win for the Lightning. Apparently, he didn’t dress his best players on purpose so that the new Oilers could look great in their debut at home in Edmonton. And of course since he’s Stevie Y, he thinks this nice gesture merits a reward; so he’d demanding for the win. It might just happen, it’s hard to refuse wishes of the best GM in NHL history.

I don’t mean to upset or offend you, just to make the point that, language laws aside, you can be proud of this place. Booing is a reflex where voices can’t be distinguished. It’s actually superior, in my opinion, to yelling out or exchanging insults and shouldn’t embarrass anyone but the people who catch themselves doing it all the time.

- Last night I was watching the Oilers-Lightining game on TSN. I got my welcome back dose of Ray Ferraro, and man that guy just hasn’t learned when to talk and when to shut his mouth. I’m sure he’s trying to do the best job he can possibly do, but he just always sounds arrogant, mixed with the good ‘ol “back when I was playing” syndrome. Memo to you, Ray: Nobody cares about your playing days, and stop trying to compare your experiences to those of every single other player. Taylor Hall and every other highly touted rookie will not have the same exact experience and pressure like you did. You were never expected to save a franchise, so don’t you even think your experience is comparable. In the great words of men sharing the same heritage as myself,…..MAAA SHAT APPA YOU FACE!

- Getting back to the game itself, the NHL suffered a great loss last night. It’s not everyday we see things like this happen, especially to such special people who are icons and almost religious figures in some parts of the world. But we knew that sooner or later this was perhaps going to happen; Guy Boucher lost his first NHL game. I couldn’t believe it, and I’ll admitt to all you grown men that I cried. But then when I came to think of it, in the end I’m sure it will make him a better person.

- There seems to be something very strange in the air these days. On three consecutive nights, the last three Montreal Canadiens goaltenders have allowed a total of 12 goals in just 6 periods of hockey. Jaroslav Halak allowed 3 in half a game, Caribou Price (I own the exclusive rights to that name) allowed 4 in half a game, and yesterday Dan Ellis allowed 5 in his 1st full game with Tampa. This is beginning to be a worrisom trend for a franchise known to produce such great goaltenders.

- Speaking of Dan Ellis, WTF DUDE??!! The greatest franchise in NHL history signed you to a contract this summer, and that’s how you thank them? 5 goals?!! I got into an argument with my gf last night because of this tweeting addicted fellow. When he let in the 1st Oilers goal, I jumped off the couch and started booing Ellis. My gf’s parents were sleeping, so this was very rude of me. She then asked me what in the heck I was doing, and I replied: “Excuse me, but I pay $4.99 per month to get TSN HD. That’s alot of money for just one channel. And if I’m not happy with the way this former Hab is playing, I have the right to boo!”.

- In non hockey related news, my gf kicked me out of her house last night following my pre-season goal celebration. She called me this morning and asked if I had changed, and if I was ready to be the #1 person I could possibly be. I told her that I’m more mature now, stronger mentally, and that I’ve put on 12 pounds of muscle since last night. She was convinced, and everything seems to be fine. And just a little FYI, check out these stats: She’s my 5th gf, we’ve been going out since 2005, and back in the days when we 1st started going out I was in much better shape and considered a thoroughbred. Notice any relation to a certain someone?

I can see both sides to the argument – as a player, I never heard the crowd when the play was in action, but between the whistles and on the bench, there’s nothing to focus on and the crowd noise eventually makes its way into your focus.

Either way, the players on your bench at the time hear the positive/negative vibe from the crowd, which in turn generates momentum in one way or another…

Oh I totally agree BUT those 25 or 50 or so idiot boobirds are never drowned out. There is never a reaction from the 20,000 others.

When the morons start booing a player, let’s say Carey Price, they should be drowned out by a “Carey! Carey!” chant or whatever to let the guy know in his own building that he has support. Boo the ref, the opposition, or even the home team if they have no shots on goal after 15 minutes but for the most part let’s support the guys we have and not drive ‘em down.

We’re lucky, Montreal has a team with heart and character now for the first time in almost a decade, quality free agents have come here, let’s not blow this!

That’s a huge generalization and one that I disagree with completely. If anything, French people are more laid back….except when it comes to the language issue….and even that is getting less & less every day.

Go Habs Go!! “Fans are great, but the quickest way to start losing is to listen to them.” – Sam Pollock

The “us vs them” concept that you speak of is certainly not “mine”, nor do I necessarily endorse it. It has been going on forever. I am simply pointing out that French people tend to be more dramatic and therefore make a bigger deal out of insignificant things.

I’m not leaving out anglo fans, but I would wager more franco fans do the booing. The common denominator is probably amount of alcohol consumed more than anything.

Think of other pro sports towns. Philly is just garbage, so it’s no surprise that their fans act the way they do. Yankees fans can be brutal but I think it’s the same sense of self-entitlement that Habs fans have- they’ve been spoiled by success in the past.

Other than that though, which towns actually regularly boo their players at the slightest signs of trouble? Why do Montreal fans embarass themselves by protesting in a childish way?

25 fans booing in a silent arena can sound very loud. fact is there is no reason to try to defend such a small minority. I guarantee there are just as many or more idiots in the city that your wife is from (no offense).

Go Habs Go!! “Fans are great, but the quickest way to start losing is to listen to them.” – Sam Pollock

I brought my wife (who is American) to a Bell Centre game in 2003. She was blown away by the fact that the Montreal faithfull booed not only The Star Spangled Banner but also O Canada.

She asked why and all I could think of was they’re idiots and then explained the whole lingering ongoing separatist crap that ruined the province and sent millions of Quebeckers packing to Ontario and points west.

She wondered why the rest of Canada put up with that and said if California or Texas wanted to separate, the sentiment would be dealt with pretty quickly and firmly.

You know, defending my hometown and province gets embarrassing when there’s really no excuse for this kind of crap.

Many of you talk about your ‘rights’ to boo, to criticise, to jeer, etc. What you are overlooking is your “privileges”: to write and behave intelligently; to be informed; and to reason. Give it a try, you might just enjoy it!

BINGO, you hit the nail on head, peope don’t realize it, but the booing does carry it consequences. Sometimes we may see it in short term like in the case of Patrick Roy, or maybe longer term and in maybe 2 years from now when Prices contract is up.

The fans say they want a winnner, how do you supposedly get a winner if all you do is boo a player for having a bad streak, again in Prices case a goalie takes longer to develop, that’s a fact ask anyone who has experience with drafting and developing young players at NHL level. The goalies are the longest followed by the defense and the forwards are the quickest.

Patience is something Habs fans don’t have, so the only suggestion that I can think of is never draft anymore goalies, instead trade for superstar ones. Tey should come cheap, then the fans can complain about how much it cost to get a good goalie. I guess then they boo that goalie for a different reason.

To you from failing hands we throw the torch, be yours to hold it high.

Depends which anthem, where and why it’s being sung. I love my country and I continue to enjoy hockey, but I really could care less about whatever they decide to blast at people through a stadium P.A. system before the puck drops.

Hal Gill said it himself that when the crowd boos someone on the hometeam, it hurts the ENTIRE TEAM. They are not deaf, and they are human beings.

You seem to have the idea that going to a hockey game is like going to a movie or watching tv, where the people on the screen can’t hear you. It’s not like that. Be supportive, or you’re cheering for the other team.

I don’t think the team plays in front of a particular goalie better than another. I do think the team let Price down a few times, and played pretty badly in front of him. On the other hand of that argument is Price needs to be making some of those saves to pick up the team, and he has, just not as much as we want.

I think that the team figured out how to pick it up vs the Bruins after about 30 minutes. Same time as Price was in the goal. I have noticed a few times this season that we play very differently in the first period than in others. Our coach and players find holes and expose them. That creates a shift in the game. OFTEN, the shift is forced when we pull the goalie. This is a way to wake up the players. It often works, and then we at home think to ourselves. This team doesn’t like Price because they play better without him.

The thing is we are looking for an excuse. So we make one up. It’s especially easy when our backup goalie plays so consistent and steals the show.

I think we are over complicating a very simple situation. We have a GREAT young goalie. It takes awhile for a young goalie to gain experience and confidence. 3-4 years is just the start. Especially in a city that expects immediate results or they stone you. AND MAKE NO MISTAKE ABOUT IT, THE CITY AND MEDIA HAVE BEEN MUCH TOUGHER ON PRICE THAN THE REST OF THE TEAM. Similar to Latendresse. I don’t care what anyone says, 25 goals in 55 games as soon as he left says it all…

Just because you don’t buy into the hype doesn’t mean the hype can’t come true. There is a reason that these PROFESSIONAL scouts and managers think Price can be one of the best goalie’s ever. There is a reason Ken Dryden said DONT trade him. Now the question is this… Will it come this season or not? We will only find out in the end, and I wouldn’t want to be on the wrong side in the end. Especially considering the Price is not a BAD goalie. His save percentage is above average. I will risk a mediocre goalie for little bit for a chance at a GREAT one.

Lastly I will say this. People get angry because apparently we rushed him into the NHL. So basically what we are saying is if we kept him in the AHL for 3 years and he was a Rookie this season we would not be so hard on him. Why does it matter if he has been with us or with Hamilton? His age would be the same, the only difference is he has experience in an inferior league. To me if you want to be the best yo must play and learn from the best. So THRU NO FAULT OF HIS OWN, we get angry at him cause he was rushed and so we BOOOO… I mean is it just me that this makes no sense to???

Listen to Hal Gil’s interview after the game. He said it affects the team…and that is normal. When a team hears their own fans booing their own player, it is bound to have some affect, whether or not you think they are supernatural beings.

Go Habs Go!! “Fans are great, but the quickest way to start losing is to listen to them.” – Sam Pollock

When APPARENTLY the deal was done, you don’t think if he wanted to come to Montreal, he would have said “I would love to go back HOME and play”. You don’t think if he wanted to leave they would have forced him to stay?

Honestly, I would be worried, however, I would give him his chance to show us what he could do for us. However, after looking at what PG’s management has done in the last 5 years, and what Toronto’s has done, I prefer PG.

not that id want to live in jersey but if your suggesting the devils roster or anyone associated with that team actually lives in newark than i dunno what to say

jersey always ranks one or two in terms of wealth amongst all of the states, because of its proximity to manhattan and the jersey shore… towns like redbank are absolutely stunning and amazing places to live…

Since January 1, 2009 Price has a .904% SV. Not good, but it’s also not horrid, Fleury has a .907% for his entire career, as a reference point. However, the key to Price’s weak post-Jan 1, 2009 SV% is two months. January and February of 2009, he posted .867% and .866% SV% respectively over 13 games. Subtract these two months and Price’s post Jan. 2009 SV% is now .912%. Now, clearly we cannot discount these games, they counted and Price played like crap. However, these games occurred after a 3 week layoff due to an injury.

If you subtract those two months, again those games count and Price played poorly in the games, Price yearly SV% look like this:

Year 1: .920%

Year 2: .912% (Actual number: .904%, Halak was: .915%…Halak had an .888% during Jan., by far his worst month, maybe the team is to blame?)

Year 3: .912%

This isn’t cherry picking, there is a legitimate reason his numbers suffered in those two months.However, those two months count and they dropped his SV% since than by .008%, which is a huge number since the sample size was 13 games and 11 starts. The fact is, Price had a very poor two months, not a very poor year and a half.

Honestly, I would be worried, however, I would give him his chance to
show us what he could do for us. However, after looking at what PG’s
management has done in the last 5 years, and what Toronto’s has done in the last year, I
prefer PG.

yeah right! cammaleri, gill, gionta, halperin, etc., etc. including americans who gladly sign here when they are REALLY offered the money to pay higher canadian and quebec tax – time to cut that bull the previous team owners brainwashed you with.

oh yes they do. eli manning for one example even the nyc media THEN giants went all the way and they all developed alzheimers and forgot what they said day after day game after game about him. even coughlin had been booed game after game.

same thing happens everywhere. this situation has been buiolding up caused by gainey/gauthiers moves/price play getting worse and the trading away of a goalie who helped habs get farther than they did in 17 years. if you were 8 years old in 1993 youre 25-26 now? people around that age may never before ever seen a habs team go to the conf finals – and these gms traded a goalie a winning record one away and kept a guy they are obsessed will be a star but for the last 2 years was terrible – this does not end until price plays like plante at his best OR price and the gm duo are out the door COMPLETELY. and there was no need for this to have happened.

yes in the states its different but in all the canadian cities – it is our sport though bettman doesnt think that – how they acted towards heatley in ottawa – both media and fans. toronto is the same even worse media pressure than montreal.

No one wants Burke, he has been a failure everywhere he has been. ————– gauthier has never worked for a nhl team who even got to the stanley cup finals while he worked for them. and he has been in the league for near 30 years. a gm at 3 places.

So? The point I am making is that the Cup that Burke got was handed to him by Bryan Murray due to vacating the job to go work for the Sens. Murray did ALL the work for that Cup.

As for Gauthier, I know he does not have a cup, but you simply cannot deny the good things has done for the Habs as in, having the best group of prospects that we have had in 15 YEARS!! And for building team that actually plays with heart and has character.

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Never judge another man’s decision poor until you actually have proof of it failing!

believe me you dont want to live in newark. i lived in jersey for several years, i dont mean the entire state – i mean newark where the rink was built for them and many devils fans are even afraid to go to that city thats why attendence has got worse one of lowest in the league. the 2 worst cities i personally have seen in my life – newark, n.j. and trenton, n.j. no canadian city even resembles either place.

I love being called ignorant by people who don’t seem to understand the basic mechanisms of the league. Trying to send Price to Hamilton will expose him to the waiver wire, where any other GM would be able to pick him up for no more cost than his salary. I suspect the 29 GMs in the league have a more positive view of Price than you do and he wouldn’t have time to book his flight to Hamilton before some other team picks him up.

I’ve known Ian for almost 4 years and “Dimwit” is not a name that I would uually associate with Ian, but now that you say it, I might have to question my thought process. I mean, it takes a dimwit to spot a dimwit, and there’s no doubt in my mind and probably everyone elses, who’s has ever read your tripe, that you are the king of dimwits Tony.

If CP wants the fans to chill out he should have faced the media after the game instead of running and hiding.Sounds like he still has some growing up to do.I,m a Jaro fan but he’s gone now so now I’ll support CP until………

I am a lifelong diehard Canadiens fan. Unfortunately that puts me in the same class as the COMPLETE MORONS who boo our own players. I’m happy i’m not a Leaf fan, but it really sucks being a Canadiens fan.

Leaf fans = the dumbest fans in hockey

Canadiens fans= most ignorant fans in hockey

I hope you guys enjoyed the success teams of decades past had because its not going to happen again. Keep booing you clowns, because it directly contributes to how this team performs. Thanks for making the team worse for the rest of us.

I agree with you&your not nieve Geoff. Carey Price will be a star for sure in a couple of years but I predict that he will not be the star for us because he will be gone to another team who needs the crap that the boo birds give out he will go elswhere. We have lost so many players because of undeserving fans like we have. I hope they take your advice & CLAP LOUD to drown out the jerks. I don’t think I will live long enough to see Carey become a star .I have more years behind me than in front of me GO HABS GO!!!!!

Oh please! Get a copy of the 1972 Summit Series and watch what happened in Game 4 in Vancouver where 15,000 fans ( not a small section but all of them ) booed Team Canada as they left the ice. Phil Esposito gave an impassioned speech right after the game saying that if the Russian fans booed their team he would apologize. Many pundits of the day swear that this speech turned the series around and we all know what happened.

Players and teams have ALWAYS been booed and probably always will even in politically correct Canada. Great teams and great players don’t feel sorry for themselves but rise to the occasion and use it to FIRE their passion. If Price is half the player Bob Gainey thinks he is then Price will use it to raise his game.

If a little booing means this particular player and his team fail then they should find a different vocation. No guts no glory!

Agreed! Imagine how difficult it will continue to be to attract free agents and keep young players when they know about the clowns who habitually boo their own team. It’s just clueless. And it’s time for the organisation and the real fans to stand up. Kick them out. Tell them to stay home.

I am not debating whether booing is ever justifiable or not, it is one of those subjects that is highly subjective and personal.

I question all the navel gazing and hand wringing over a phenomenon that has occurred throughout history and will probably continue to intrude on sporting events. Those individuals that boo for no logical reason cannot be appealed to with any arguments. The dynamics of rowdy crowds is well known to sociologists. In point of fact there is little you or I can do about it. Price and the team can alleviate it to a great degree by their performance on the ice. That is the life of a professional athlete. I for one would take his place in a second booing and all.

so after 2 years is it not long enough a period to see that he is not the great goalie gainey/gauthier thought he would be? no one mentions these last 2 years of his. just how can 2 years of poor play be ignored? i understand gainey/gauthier 100% – these stubborn old men refuse to admit they were wrong the booing fans will continue even worse until the 3 are gone. was this booing at price’s first stumble even if it wasnt his fault, unexpected the day halak was traded? by fans with any knowledge it was guaranteed to happen yet gainey and gauthier still threw all that more pressure on price AGAIN.

Phil said he was “disheartened, disillusioned , and disappointed” about the fans booing the team.Phil also said, “we are disappointed at some of the people.We cannot believe the bad press we’ve got..the booing in your own buildings. “

Here is something for the booo birds to booo about today… Mr Facebook aka Mark Zuckerberg at the age of 26 is worth… now don’t fall over or crap your pants… 7 Billion dollers and just wait till his company goes public. And who said greed is not good :).

Burke gives up two 1st rounders and a 2nd for Kessel. BG trades a 1st, 5th rounder and a career minor leaguer for Gomez. In Kessel you get a goal scorer. In Gomez you get a playmaker, a leader, a Cup champion, a bloated contract and a guy who never seems to give up.

Burke brings in Versteeg, Armstrong, Beauchemin and Komisarek via free agency. One Cup winner, two big 20 goal scorers, a reasonable defensive d-man and the KomiQuestion-mark. BG brings in Cammy, Gio, Gill and Spacek. A 30-goal scorer, a two-time cup winner and 25 goal scorer, a defensive d-men who won the Cup and a top-4 d-man.

Tired of hearing people saying he is young and needs time to develop. Carey Price was an exceptional talent so much so that he was selected at #5 overall in Crosby’s year which was 5 and a half years ago. Did you ever see a young highly touted rookie in any sport come up and continue his excellent play from day 1 in the pros? And then disappear the rest of his career? Price was excellent in Juniors, in the World Juniors and Calder Cup a star AND was excellent his first year with the Habs AND half the next year to just before the All-star game in January 2009. BUT from that point on all his personal numbers have dropped drastically – won/loss record, gaa, shutouts, sv %. AND his stats prove what you all see with your own eyes. Something happened around the 2009 all star game or some other reason then has changed the performance of Price. He was a couple of years younger HERE and played tremendously – flash in the pan. We are talking of almost 2 FULL YEARS NOW. http://canadiens.nhl.com/club/player.htm?id=8471679

Thanks for the blog Boone. Can’t live without it NOW! Was on road listening to game on Ottawa radio when PK scored.. almost went into the ditch in excitement. Looks like we, habs fans, may really have someone to thrill us again.

I have to disagree,the mock cheers when he makes a rountine save shows their boos are targetted at price. The guy was named 3rd star in a game last year and he was still booed. I attended the last game of the season against the leafs and when carey’s name was said over the loudspeaker he recieved booes. Its not at management,its directed at carey. Between the booing of our own and of the ameican anthem hab fans are considered a joke around the because of the ignorance of these people.

People that BOO or criticize all the time, are people that have not live up to their own expectations in life. It is a way to dump their own frustrations of non accomplishments in their life. — Quite the opposite, it is people with no accomplishments of their own need to cheer for others and even use the term “we” as if they are part of the team themselves.

One of the only ways to help ourselves with the Trolls, is to simply stop replying to their garbage. I am guilty of it myself and will be doing my best not to anymore as it only provokes them. Most of them do it for the sheer fun of watching us take the bait.

I emplore all you that come here on a regular basis to have some fun and talk hockey with other SERIOUS Habs fans to no longer reply to those type of posts! Only together can we overcome the morons and reclaim HIO as the knowledgeable community of true fans that it used to be!!

WHO’S WITH ME?!?!?!?!

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Never judge another man’s decision poor until you actually have proof of it failing!

“Steps of Pwnage.
1. stop people from arguing with the troll (try to stop them in under 1 minute)
2. ignore the troll so they will look a bit funny in the head (do this untill the troll has stopped shouting random insults)
3. talk as if nothing happened (the troll has usually started doing this
them selves, this is the falling point for most trolls. BUT! the troll may start again at any point, so always be ready)- if the problem proceeds -
4. ignore them once more (do this untill the troll has shut up again, if
the troll doesnt stop within 2 minutes, proceed to step 5)
5. love them to death (this will freak out the troll, and will mostly make them give up.)- if the troll hasnt left by now, call a mod -
6. celebrate”

boo-ing is part of life.. if someone does something that you don’t agree with, you have the right to boo.

in fact boo-ing can be seen as a compliment beneath the layers of criticism, suggesting that they’re better than what they’re giving. an example of this is when the ref “misses a call” or makes a bad decision, the crowd will boo the ref, because they’re expecting better quality. Does anyone step-in and tell the fans to stop boo-ing the refs? but cause it’s a player on the team, the world goes to poops. double standards much? a common example of this can be casual drinking at the bar and your friend comes in with a smirnoff ice instead of an alexander keiths. you can’t help but boo your friend’s choice of alcohol.

regardless of what an individual has done in his lifetime, he has the freedom of right to have expectations from people who are paid to be in the spotlight.

Alright boys, got some good news, being working hard all day at work trying to find this, like last year, not all the Habs game were on RDS, but I remember I found a site that had a Sens Habs game last year when it wasn’t on TV, and i just found it, and I think they are going to be showing the whole game.

When CBC first started carrying hockey games – it was only on Saturday night and games at the Forum on Saturday nights started at 8:15pm. CBC radio in English broadcast would start at 9pm until the game ended. CBC telecast would come on at 9:30pm to conclusion. When the Ice Follies and Ice Capades were in for a week the Habs would play in Toronto(those 2 Saturday nights) and we got the treat of listening to Foster Hewitt here.

Price has been in the league for 3 years. In your above post you called his first year and a half excellent, now in this post you call his last 2 years, poor play. How can that be? How can you be called the “observer” yet, you can’t even properly observer your own posts?

fleury did NOT regress from how he played his first year and a half in the nhl. no one wants anyone to compare what price has done here the last year to what halak did – fine – well compare price of his first year and a half to price and his last year and a half. he is not the goalie he was when he first came here. these same booing fans a year anjd a half ago put him into the all-star game.

Oh please!!! now your talking about the 72 Summit Series? you need to leave topics you have no clue about alone and let people who lived the 72 series tell you what went down and not parts of a dvd. Time for you to have some milk and cookies and call it a day.

I was listening to the always entertaining Ron Fournier on CKAC last night. He was asking the callers to tell him why booing should or should not be accepted, and to support their arguments. Some were saying it expresses their feelings, etc..Those who didn’t approve of it, gave their own reasons.

And I couldn’t stop but think, “Tabarnack! Who cares why people boo or don’t boo.”

You see, everyone was giving their own opinion, and you can’t slam someone for that. But that’s not what went wrong the other night. What went wrong was the way it happened, and to whom it happened. This has nothing to do with Carey Price. Whether it happened to him or to anyone else, it was plain wrong.

Why? Why was it wrong, Mike G?

Well, this is why:

Thursday morning, I turned on the radio here in MTL and they were speaking about it; very normal. While I was at work, more and more online newspapers and bloggers started talking about this, and most were not Canadian based outlets; hmmm, getting a little weird. And finally, I turn on TSN when I get home and ESPN’s show called PTI is talking about it; seriously, WTF.

First of all, when ESPN talks about hockey, something’s wrong. Anyways, all I’m trying to say is that if booing your own teams’ player for such unfair reasons wasn’t frowned upon, all of these non-hockey media outlets would not have wasted their time talking about it. If booing a player the way we did would be normal, it would not be such an issue. Experts and shows all across North America wouldn’t be wasting their time talking about booing in a f’kin pre-season hockey game!

Instead, we as fans would be talking about the debut of Louis Leblanc, because for pete’s sake this province has been starving for a 1st round Frenchie! We’ve been complaining year after year that we need more Quebecois, and now we finally have the chance to see the mega hyped-up Leblanc, and all were doing is talking about the boo birds! People are still today complaining that this team needs a French superstar and we need to use our 1st round draft picks to take the best ones available. We finally do just that by selecting Leblanc, and the 1st time he plays, we totally ignore what impact he had. When you’re ignoring something that big in Montreal, there is an immense problem somewhere else.

So if there was absolutely nothing wrong with the booing that went on, why the heck was such a big deal made out of it?

Well, because it’s something that shouldn’t happen the way it did. I’m not saying it’s never right to boo, sometimes there is merit, and sometimes not. And clearly by the enormous reaction of the usually “we don’t even know what the heck hockey is” media, something was obviously wrong with what happend.

When fans booo a ref the reason behind it is the call was a bad decision for the team not on one player. The worse piece of abuse a player can receive is that of beening boooed by his home fans. All this talk about having the right to boooo is very tiresome… If you don’t see it that way by all means tell me where you work and I will boooo you when in my eyes your performance on a task is not up to par. This is not a personal attack on you just your post.

I’ve been so overdosed on the Halak/Price debates. Got me thinking. The two sides are totally sold on their goalie. Impossible for either side to be convinced of the other goalies talents. Could it be it says more about the fan than the player. If we can’t figure it out, it’s going to go on forever. I personally love Price, Halak is just OK for me. Does that mean I identify with the rockstar goalie and not the little engine that could? Maybe Halak fans are the opposite of me? What do you guys think?

Hard for Fleury to regress from the 0.896 and .898 SV% in his first two years. In year three, Marc took a HUGH jump up to a .906%, which is .001% better than Price’s worst SV% season. Fleury SV% in the last three seasons has gone from .921%, .912%, to .905% last season, or .007% LOWER than Price’s SV% last season.

Booing is normal and completely natural. It is the sound patrons, spectators make when they are dissatisfied with a performance they have paid to see which does not live up to expectations or is sub par.

When an MLB pitcher walks 2 in a row and the winning run he gets booed. If a rock band in concert is wasted, out of tune and completely out of sync they get booed. The PM gets booed in Parliament. The Queen gets booed. Boone gets booed. Your wives are booing.

Booing is good. It lets the booer: vent his frustrations, make his displeasure known, behave in a manner not socially accepted outside of the sports arena.

If booing were banned gawd knows what could happen… rioting, looting destruction……

Booing is good. It makes the recipient(s) aware of the fact that their performance was sub par, beneath them, in fact. It makes them reconsider their dedication and commitment to their chosen craft. It diminishes egos. It makes the recipients afraid that a pink slip maybe attached to their next paycheck.

Boo away my freinds. It is your democratic right and it is good for all concerned.

The only repeating is the gainey/gauthier thinking about their great 2005 selection – price.AND it is coming to a head now. I thought this would occur early in the season if the habs got off to a bad start but it already is underway as gauthier was ignorant and stubborn enough to start price in a totally meaningless first and HOME exhibition game. then with the holier than thou media attacking them as drunks, idiots, whatever, even for sitting in the cheap seats(GAINEY CALLS THEM “HIGH UP SEATS” insulting the other poorer fans who sit there) for booing in a lousy exhibition game instead of him for allowing 4 goals on 9 shots and after near 2 years of bad play AND after trading away a perfectly good goalie who helped take the habs to their greatest playoff success in 17 years (WHICH IS FARTHER THAN GTAUTHIER HIMSELF EVER GOT TO IN CLOSE TO 30 YEARS)-this will only enrage those fans even more. gauthier should have thought of this. didnt he lie as he said last spring he likes both goalies and will keep them both!

Oh no, people from other places who have no idea of Montreal or its history have a negative opinion about Montrealers!Horrors! Oh no, that means they might not like us either and boo us. Terrible!

How about the overpaid prima donna stops a few pucks? Then, there’s no problem. Price gives up 4 in 9 or 10 shots while the goalie at the other end stones the Habs yet again. That’s why the booing. (Besides that,many of the paying public hold the opinion that they traded the wrong goalie.)

It’s disgusting to see the treatment given to Price. This whole dilema shouldn’t even exist.

What if I tell you that this kid, Price, is done in MTL and it really sucks?

I’m a huge fan of Price. I spent big money to buy his signed pictures and jerseys. I want nothing more than to see him win and win alot in this city, now and for many years to come. I always defend him no matter what the situation is, but now it’s gone overbaord. The fans’ reaction Wednesday night killed him, mentally and career-wise in this city.

His interview was the last straw. Him telling the fans in a very polite way to shut the f’uk up. That’s all it was, and people interpret it as if he’d telling them to be patient. You see it in his face that he just wants to punch someone in the face. He’s fed up of dealing with the same bs after every start he has.

Mark my words, and it’s sad to say this, but once his contract is done he’s gone. We will lose a really good player, for such a dumb reason. The way we treat and treated him is unnacceptable for a player trying to find his way in the best hockey league in the world.

Nobody deserves that, and he’s not a clown. He’s not gonna take it anymore. Unless he wins 40+ games this year and next, the booing won’t stop. This is MTL, and that’s just how the people or “fans” are here. We won’t change, we never did..

CAREY “JESUS PRICE”,”THE SAVIOUR”;”THE FRANCHISE”;will be seeing viewers at the home of HAMILTON BULLDOGS aound December.

Remember my words you ignorant peons,as i’ve been saying for 2 years now.”SCAREY PRICE” IS NOT NOW,AND NEVER HAS BEEN an NHL Goalie.

You can support him,make the same lame excuses about his having great “potential”.explain away why his 4 goals on 9 shots was “just” an exhibition game,explain away why his prior .878 save percentage ,why his 13-26 record was just an oversight,explain why he flops all over the crease like a dieing seal,explain,explain explain ,but as the loses pile up-and make no mistake they will-the true talent level of ‘THE SIEVE” will again,sadly become apparent.

Remember.you can BS the media,you can BS the fans,but the one thing you can’t BS is a puck travelling 90 plus mph.

There was no comparison between Price and Halak the last 2 years;it was truley the act OF THE INSANE TO TRADE HALAK FOR VIRTUALLY NOTHING.HOWEVER THE ACT OF THE INSANE JUST CONTINUES THE PISS POOR DELUSIONAL MANAGEMENT WE’VE HAD IN MONTREAL SINCE THAT MENTAL GIANT REJEAN HOULE WAS GM.GAINEY was a true unique act;making bizarre move after bizarre move;the best-retiring his own number-hey Bob-retire my number too !!

So another year with nothing to show.If anyone thinks we will come even close last year;you need an anti-psychotic check up.

This has do with people who have 0 interest in hockey, talking about a really dumb incident. If Price woulda given up 100 goals on 100 shots, and nobody would have booed, those American media outlets wouldn’t have even been aware of it.

That’s why the situation of the booing made headlines, not the reason for the booing.

He who makes a mockey of himself should not be surprised when he can not find respect, from anyone. That is what those fools did on Wednesday night, they made a mockery of the Habs and their fans because of their alcohol-fueled behaviour and small-mindedness.

The paying public thought Plekanec should have been shoved out the back door in the summer of 2009. They mocked the Gill signing, they cheered on ‘Gui Gui Gui!’ for a player who had less passion for being a Hab than a guy like Cammalleri has in his little finger. The paying public generally doesn’t know what is best for the team.

It seems to me that lots of us are wasting out time trying to explain to people what it means to support their TEAM. Seems to me the best approach is to ignore the ignorant. I motion for ALL TRUE HABS FANS, who understand the true meaning of supporting their team, to ignore the boo birds/trolls and CHEER LOUDER than them when they try. We need to rally around our boy Price because he will have bad games, he’ll have ok games and he’ll have excellent games just like every other goalie in the league and he doesn’t deserve this treatment.

Anyone up for the CLAP FOR CAREY CAMPAIGN and ignore those posting the ignorant commentary. This site is becoming a real drag having to sift through lots of this inane drivel. It really irks me and i don’t enjoy being irked when it comes to the HABS!

CAREY WILL MATURE INTO AN EXCELLENT GOALIE and i don’t want the few to drive him out of town. So i think we need to start making him feel welcome at home.

P.S. I don’t care if you think i’m nieve, i’m having trouble digesting this negativity.

Booing Price is the only way they can show their displeasure to how Gainey and Gauthiers have run this team the last 7 and a half years. it will not stop as it is unrealistic to think Price in this position will become a Marty Brodeur overnight (which is the only way they’ll stop booing).

You make a good point, though I’d honestly look more to the motives of the media rather than to those of the fans. The booing, the jeering and the mockery, for all kinds of reasons both noble and base, is as old as the gods. And nothing sells newspapers like blood and melodrama.

Actually, here’s an idea:

I think the Greeks, amongst others, used to taunt their footsoldiers with insulting chants and loud noises to disturb their rhythym during training, Perhaps The Habs should take a hint from the ancients, update a little and play recordings of loud booing over the PA during practice.

absolutely come and boo me, i have no qualms with it. you doing so just means that you’re not satisfied with my work. I’m not a baby to not be able to be booed…i think people take booing way too seriously and i feel bad for those guys.

So your suggestion is that fans boo Price to show displeasure about unmet expectations, which makes future expectations more difficult to meet (unless booing helps player and team performance). Therefore, any fans that boo are stupid, or at least hypocritical, right?

Fleury kept being sent down because he was inconsistant. not a good analogy. i used to get all the penguins games on tv for several years and saw it myself. price once here, played excellent hockey for the habs – i am telling you to compare ALL his numbers BEFORE and AFTER January 1, 2009. Not to cherry pick them – compare all of them and then compare it as well to what the other goalie did with the very same team when he played that last 1 and a half years. I thought Price was great with the Habs the first year and a half, I do not think that way anymore and his own numbers clearly show it, if you want to open your eyes.

True again. Price has received some special attention. Maybe it has something to do with whatever is left of the particular form of catholicism found here. Then again, that isn’t so unique and scratchin’ at it will probably just cause an infection.

These are players we know for fact. How many others are out there? The funny part is we think the PLAYERS are the problem… And that because they make lots of money they should be able to perform to perfection and take all the abuse we subject them to. AND after all that they are supposed to get down on their hands and knees and kiss the feet of every supporter because we pay for the tickets…

question for you. Do you think NHL players deal with more heat from media in canada or NFL players with media in the US. They go pretty football crazy down south and i’ve heard a fare share of booing of NFL players at times.

not right but it’s not like montreal is the hardest market to play in in the world of sports

So your suggestion is that fans boo Price to show displeasure about unmet expectations, which makes future expectations more difficult to meet (unless booing helps player and team performance). Therefore, any fans that boo are stupid, or at least hypocritical, right? — what i am saying is this is what has happened. and yes those booing fans only enflame the problem but gauthier should have realized this before he traded halak away. there is another possible way this can turn out not as bad as its headed that is if eller immediately makes a huge impression – otherwise any or all of price, gauthier and gainey are not going to be here much longer. and price will show great improvement ELSEWHERE.

Never been an NHL goalie??? Explain 2007-2008 where his SV% was tied for 5th in the league.

Can’t compare the two in the last 2 years??? Explain why Carey Price had 5 more wins and only 2 more losses in 2008-2009… Explain why Price had a lower GAA.

Not saying Halak wasn’t a good goalie. That would be stupid… But saying Carey Price isn’t an NHL goalie??? Just as stupid.

I still always find this funny. People who have nothing to do with professional hockey, who’s closest connection is the tickets they buy, seem to really think their own opinion about a player they do not know, and spend no time with out weighs the opinion of a MANY professionals who work with, train, and see day in and day out… Funny to me.

i don’t think he had a choice… maybe that one year he approached UFA he might have had a chance to turn-tail on TB and come to montreal but it’s not uncommon a player pledges his allegiance to the team that drafted him and not his hometown team.

i think since then lecavalier never denied he could play in montreal one day, and you can see how much he loves coming to montreal, and he really enjoyed the reception he got at the ASG.

There’s a difference between criticizing an athlete’s poor quality of play and vilifying the athlete. Some fans, for whom hockey is a release, Fail to make that distinction. Thay take revenge on a third party for frustrations thay are suffering at the hands of a boss,spouse, ect…

Exactly, and the only guy with a stand alone starting position on the team other than Jacques Martin is the easiest target. Surely not a coincidence that the Head Coach, starting goaltender and highest paid player are the three people associated with the team that take the most abuse.

I just read an article whose origin is Martin McGuire at CKAC (he’s usually well informed) and he says in short that Price is getting fed up and tired with Montreal and its fans and the way he’s treated. He goes on to compare Price with the Komisarek situation and Komisarek couldn’t wait to get out of town. Hopefully he can feel supported because if not he will probably crack if this continues. McGuire compares it to being in a hostile working environment, where the worker eventually packs it in….

And that explains why Price chose to resign. He could have easily told the org how he felt and we would gone with Halak and jetisoned Price. I get Martin’s point, but he knows nothing about what is going through Price’s head. Same with Komi, Komi chose money which we didnt want to give considering his limited skill set.

Comparing the situation to Komisarek? Komisarek was loved in montreal until he decided to leave, he got voted into the all-star game for f’s sake! Besides he bolted to Toronto where he should expect similar fans.

Especially because its the first PRE-SEASON game. The funny thing is, all the price booers are probably Halak supporters, and even halak let in 3 goals on his first 12 shots or something like that in his first pre-season game.

You could see in the post game interviews that the team really wasnt impressed at all with the fans. If there were any questions last season about whether or not the players truly had price’s back, I think its clearly evident this season that they do.

Aww, does the poor widdle baby feel that no one should ever fault him for all those floaters going by him, too? Everything must be the spectators’ fault! It’s not the player; it’s the paying customers watching him (not) perform.

right now the only way an unexpected player makes the opening forward line up is if they show some scoring touch,,hard work and effort will probably not do it as we allready have moen and pyatt who do that but just cannot score.

I get what you are saying, and the Team 990 reported the other day that Gill asked Price last year if he was happy the season ended and maybe he can move on, but Gill was suprised that Price said he wanted to stay here. But sometimes it becomes too much, when a player says hockey doesn’t become fun, there is a serious problem. This is why some players we’ll never play in MTL, Toronto, etc, why would Vinny L want to come play here and put up with all kinds of stuff when he isn’t playing well, when he can stay in sunny Tampa? With that said, some guys like the attention and winning in Montreal/Toronto/Boston, etc is a lot better than in Tampa or Nashville, it all depends on the person, look at Cammy, and Subban, they seem to play better when the attention is on them all the time.

gion,camm and plecks are the only consistent and reliable scorers on the team…we need pouliot and ak46 to be like them…we cannot have ak46 score 8 goals in 8 games and not score any for 15 ..same with pouliot…

Ditto. It’s conceivable that the kid might have a doubt or two about his career here, but he has the team and a few million other reasons to be reassured. A winning record next month will have the little girls happy and wild again.

He may not know what Price is thinking but as he’s very close to the team he is privy to information. I know when I covered the Habs as a photographer from the late 60’s to the late 80’s that you hear and see a lot of stuff that doesn’t make the headlines and the airwaves. I really do think that if the scenario continues that Price will not last here. It would be a bloody shame if that becomes the case.

Off topic here a little. I went to this movie last night this quote is one of the best in years.”Bulls make money, Bears make money, The pigs get slaughtered” Damn greed is good : Wall Street Money never Sleeps great movie

One reporter for the Denver Post questioned why Mueller was not wearing a new M11 helmet he said he was planning to use this season. Seems it wasn’t ready yet but management, with a player who had two previous brain injuries decided to not wait until it was ready.

I was expecting something like the supposedly concussion-proof football helmets, which basically look like a larger football helment is attempting to mate with a much smaller one. Not sure whether it does actually reduce the risk of concussion, but I am sure it’s awesome at toning those neck muscles. But the M11 isn’t like that- it pretty much looks like a regular helmet.

Any sudden movement of the head can cause a concussion- especially side to side or rotational movement. It isn’t the actual contact that hurts the brain, but the subsequent rotation of the head… and I don’t really see how any helmet could have protected Mueller on that play.

The new M11 design is meant for the helmet to absorb the energy of the impact and spread it so the focal point of the hit doesn’t take all of directed impact. The helmet is meant to soak up more of the hit, not sure how effective it might have been but anything that might have lessened the severity could have helped.

This “anti-concussion” helmet stuff is hype…The only helmet on the market these days that shows any marked improvement over the old designs is Easton’s new one piece S19…Cascade is marketing a fraud like most mouthpiece manufacturers…No real medical data to back up their claim…

The impact and subsequent movement of the head is what cause the concussion…No piece of equipment can stop that…Keeping your head up is the only proven concussion preventive measure…